


Blue Skies

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Foxtrot [38]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, The Dollhouse - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 14:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6242692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Written for the comment_fic prompt: Stargate Atlantis, John Sheppard + any, clear blue skies. Foxtrot and Echo share a moment on Atlantis. Set post-series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blue Skies

"You know what John Sheppard's favorite thing is?"  
  
Echo, leaning on the balcony and gazing out across Atlantis toward the California coastline, raised her eyebrows. "You know what they say about talking about yourself in the third person."  
  
"Clear blue skies," John said, because rules about talking about oneself were suspended when one had multiple imprints crammed into one's brain. "They meant flying. The chance to soar. To be completely and utterly free."  
  
"Free," Echo murmured. She glanced sidelong at her companion. At the Dollhouse she'd never given him much thought, with his wild hair and his dark eyes. He'd been around so rarely after he graduated from Stanford because he was out on a long-term engagement. She remembered his handler, a pretty woman in a little black dress who looked less like a handler and more like a senator's wife.  
  
"Yeah. I picked rotor instead of fixed wing at flight school because, well, everyone wanted to be a zoomie. But not me. Not John Sheppard. If I could scorn a multi-billion-dollar fortune, I could scorn being a zoomie."  
  
Echo frowned at him. "But you can fly fixed-wing. You flew a 302 into that Wraith Hive Ship."  
  
"Yeah, well, choppers are my preference."  
  
"Do you still love blue skies?"  
  
"John Sheppard does. Me, on the other hand –"  
  
"You should love blue skies too," Echo said. "Topher watched way too much _Top Gun_ as a kid. He adores pilots. He probably downloaded all your flight hours and watched them over and over again to get vicarious thrills."  
  
John winced. "Thanks for making me feel dirty."  
  
"...Is that why you don't like blue skies anymore?"  
  
The sky over them now was clear and blue, not a cloud in sight, perfect for flight, perfect for John Sheppard to take to the atmosphere and never come back.  
  
"No," John said.  
  
"Then why?"  
  
Grinning, he adopted a distinctly feminine pose, tossed his head, and said, " _Blue skies._ "  
  
Echo slapped him on the arm. "It's not my fault my Taffy imprint had such a dumb signature phrase. Although Alpha remote-wiped me that time and they had to re-imprint Sierra with Taffy to finish the job."  
  
John laughed and ducked away from her second outraged swipe. "I'm pretty glad I didn't get stuck with some kind of dumb signature phrase." He deepened his voice and said, " _It's what I do._ "  
  
It was Echo's turn to laugh. "The first time I saw Wormhole X-treme, I thought it was so stupid." She also affected a deep voice and said, " _It does say Colonel on my uniform._ "  
  
"I am pretty sure I've never said that," John said. "And I don't think O'Neill ever did either. Or Sam."  
  
"Reality always manages to be stranger than fiction." Echo sighed. "Whatever you think of Taffy, though, she'll be useful. If we want to take down Rossum."  
  
"Why? What do we need to steal?"  
  
"DeWitt."


End file.
